Cutting the Threads -- Part One: Present Tense
by LS
Summary: The -original- Chrono Cross fanfic-- A strange young woman appears in Termina on a dark and stormy night and latches onto the arms of three certain bar rats. Adventure/tragedy/hilarity/whatever ensues. (in progress) (updated 09/10/00 12:52 AM)


Cutting the Threads by LS  
Notes

I'll try to keep this brief.

This should go without saying, but if you haven't beaten the game, don't read the bloody fic. It's not going anywhere; it can wait for you to finish. It's not as if this game takes too long to play through, anyway.

Next, I'm going to try to get a new chapter out roughly every week, but no promises.

Third, there're continuity violations coming out the wazoo in this thing. Bear with them, they're all part of the 'game'.

This will likely be updated with every chapter released. Sometimes I'll add comments, but likely most of the time, it'll just be an update of the chapter list. Read it anyway.

I'm trying to get characters' modes of speech as accurate as possible, but Guile's been somewhat casualed-up. I've trouble figuring out exactly what he inverts and where-- his thing for the accent generator must have been hell to come up with; he doesn't modify a word here or there, he rearranges whole sentences. Besides that, I try keep him as close as possible.

Okay, I'm officially claiming this as the first English Chrono Cross fanfic released to the general public, having been released on 08/31/00.

My email address is palelight@home.com. I'm an egomaniac, so praise is always welcome. Criticism... is less welcome, but that's mostly because I'm very likely to have already been berating myself about the problems.

Chapter list as of this writing(09/09/00, 11:14 PM CDT):  
Part one - Present Tense:  
1:0 Prelude - Gaining the Pieces  
1:1 Chapter 1 - Setting the Board  
1:2 Chapter 2 - Opening Moves(language warning, yay!)

This is more for my reference than anyone else's, because if you're reading this, you already know where to find it:

Places where Cutting the Threads can be found(as of 09/09/00):

http://www.tbns.net/ls/ - The official site, and the place that's almost always likely to get updated first. 'Cause I maintain it, duh. ^_^

http://www.fanfiction.net/ - Do a search for either Cutting the Threads(in the title) or Chrono Cross(in the summary).

http://www.middletails.com/ - Well, it's not there _right_ right now, but it will be once I'm done putting this into HTML and sending it off. And the page gets updated. And stuff. Coolass site with all kinds of purdy pictures. ^_^ And other stuff. ^^

Special thanks to:

All you wacky Guile-is-Magus theorists, for making me laugh. ^_^

Enki, for letting me spoil you horridly. ^_^

MT, for, like, being cool, and stuff. ^_^ And drawin' picture(s) of Norris. ^_^ And putting this up on a site that people actually go to. ^_^

Anyone who considers themselves my pal on the CCI board, for being pally. ^_^

The obligatory thank-you to the guys at Square who made Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, and Chrono Cross. I'd never have learned how to be deliberately confusing without the last two. And this fic wouldn't exist, either. ^_^

Lastly, Miss Artena Tiempo, for not hating me for knowing the hells I'm going to put her through-- I know you're real, even if you don't exist.  


~~~~~

1:0 Prelude - Gaining the Pieces

Ah. I was wondering when you'd get here.

I was taking my time.

Obviously. What were you doing?

Watching. I'm surprised you weren't paying more attention to the effects of what that girl did.

I was waiting for you.

Ah, I see... I think perhaps you would be interested, though... the girl makes promises that are rather difficult to keep.

Ah... the reunited world...

Is the third world. That is the only way it can be. For the two to become one results in the destruction of so much... thus, the third is born.

I know how this works, you know.

Perhaps. But maybe since you didn't see, you didn't know.

I'm lazy, not ignorant.

And that's why you lost this one.

Did I lose?

Is it important?

Perhaps. Perhaps not. It is the game itself that matters, after all.

Quite. Pity that this one ended so soon...

Shall we play another game?

Should we? It's so soon...

As you just said, there are problems yet. They should be amended.

But what shall be the nature of the game? That last... did not sit too well with me...

I should think not. The artifical 'you'...

It is the means I objected to. You and I... are not mutually exclusive. The games know this, they are this. But the contradiction...

So, then... how shall this one be?

I have an idea...

Do tell.

It is...

Ah. Most intriguing.

I thought so.

The pieces of the game... shall we use the same? Modifications will be necessary...

The girl must be made a liar. But for the game to take place, the lie must be made to be anyway. Yes, we shall use the same pieces. Some, at any rate.

Then let us go, to set up the game.

Until we meet again, then.

~~~~~

1:1 Chapter 1 - Setting the Board

The restauraunt-slash-bar was had more people in it than one would expect on a night like this one, but the pouring rain had become such a common thing in Termina-- in most of El Nido, even-- that the people had simply come to adapt to the unrelenting foul weather.

Still, despite this adaptation, few people were willing to brave the driving rain simply to get a few drinks this late at night, especially on a Tuesday. In fact, in the whole bar, besides the proprietress, there were only three regulars present.

Some of these regulars were notable, others were not, as with any frequenters of a bar. And some few more strained greatly to appear anything _but_ notable.

These three regulars were two of the first and one of the last.

One of the notables was seated at a table, drinking a cup of tea, his nose in a book.

Another of the notables held a drink in his hand as he stared out the window, looking at the rain.

And one of the ones who tried to not seem so notable had staked out a spot in the far corner of the room and stood there, seemingly lost in thought.

These three knew each other quite well, had known each other for, at the very least, six months. For six months as of five minutes ago, anyway.

These three men, a soldier from Porre, a Deva of the Acacia Dragoons, and a masked magician were to become even more notable.

The front door swung open and a young woman with a pair of bags slung around her and a star-topped rod on her back staggered in, sopping wet. Those three men looked towards the door as the woman turned around and closed the door. "Dear me," she said lightly. "It seems to be raining a tiny bit around here." She smiled pleasantly, a smile that could light up a room, but remained in front of the doorway, water dripping off of her plain black dress and pooling around her feet.

The first man leapt up and guided the woman to a seat. "Miss," he said concernedly, "you shouldn't be dressed so lightly when the weather's so foul. You'll catch a chill!"

The woman smiled again, her golden eyes bright. "I think I'll be fine, but thank you for the concern. And the seat."

He shook his head. "No, no, it's nothing at all. If you were out in that, then you really should be sitting down, Miss...?"

"Artena. Artena Tiempo," she said, still smiling, but lightly squeezing some of the water from her two thick, jet-black braids. "And thank you, ah... What did you say your name was?"

"I don't think I did," he said, "But call me Norris."

In the corner, the masked man pushed himself away from the wall and strolled lightly over to the table where Artena sat. "Tiempo, ah?" he said. "An... unusual name... But, no matter. Why were you out in that weather, so poorly equipped for it?"

Artena cocked her head slightly. "I don't know..." she said in an odd tone. "It's odd... The past few days seem to be a complete blur... the last recent thing I remember is coming into Termina, and that wasn't very long ago at all..."

"Ah," the man said. "Most intriguing..."

"Hey now!" Artena protested. "That's my memory loss you're calling intriguing there!"

The man nodded and bowed slightly. "My apologies, ma'am. I intended no offense."

Artena smiled again. "Don't worry about it... just don't call me 'ma'am'! I'm not old enough to be a 'ma'am'."

Inclining his head by way of apology, he replied, "As you wish. Oh-- and my name is Guile."

The light in Artena's eyes danced merrily. "It's my turn to comment on unusual names now."

"It's assumed."

"I'd thought as much," Artena's smile grew devilish. "After all, what parents would inflict such a name on their child?"

"Excuse me?" Guile's tone was flat enough that if it got any more so, it would have become concave.

Artena laughed. "No, no, don't mistake me... I just meant for a child... it's a fine name, but not one you'd want to take to a schoolyard."

Guile opened his mouth and closed it a few times, not knowing exactly what to say and not wanting to bear any sort of ill feelings towards this girl(or her to him, for that matter). Which in and of itself made him suspicious of this girl. He felt an overpowering urge to like Artena, which made him even more suspicious. He didn't get overpowering urges, period.

But this girl seemed harmless at the moment, and he didn't feel any sort of ill will from her, so he made no comment. "So..." he said instead, conversationally. "Do you happen to remember what brings you to Termina?"

Artena cocked her head slightly, thinking, then nodded. "Yes... I think so... I believe... I was vacationing here in El Nido, down in Arni, I believe... Very pretty place, that... Aaand... I would have been coming back to Termina to get a boat to Porre so I could go home to Choras. Yes, that sounds right."

"Heh," said the man by the window. "Going from Choras to vacation in El Nido. From what I've heard about Choras, you might as well've gone on a cruise when you live on a houseboat."

"Karsh--" Norris began sharply, but was cut off by Artena's laughter. She waved him down and said to Karsh, "You may well be right, sir, but I was looking more for a change of scene, which I certainly got." Artena smiled pleasantly at Norris. "It was nice of you to try and yell at him for saying that, though." She paused slightly. "That _is_ what you were trying to do, right?"

"Well... yes," admitted Norris.

Artena smiled and exclaimed, "Oh, you people are all just so _sweet_! I'm so glad you were in here when I came in..." She kept smiling happily. "So, what do you all do, anyway?"

Norris went first. "I'm with the Porre army... so I'm not in town much longer, myself."

"Yeah, and while I've got nothing against you personally, I have to admit that I'll be pretty glad when you guys're gone," Karsh drawled. "So when's it you're leaving? Middle of next week or something like that?"

Norris nodded. "Unless something big happens to interfere with the schedule, yes."

"Good," said Karsh. "But the next time you get some leave, come down here again, and we'll see about pouring something other than tea down your throat."

"I think not. I like my wits exactly where they are, thank you very much."

Karsh waved his hand dismissively. "Aw, you're no fun at all. But what're you doing in a bar if you don't drink, anyway?"

With a shrug, Norris said, "Nothing better to do this time of night. And beside, the tea here really is very good-- I'm going to have to take some home with me."

Karsh looked at Norris like his head was on fire. "You're mind-numbingly dull, you know that?" He laughed slightly, shook his head, and looked to Artena. "Anyway, missy, I'm a Deva in the Dragoons."

Artena's eyes widened. "Really? Wow, that's... um... something important, right?" She blushed slightly.

Smiling as he nodded, Karsh said, "Yeah, that's one way you could put it."

"How wonderful for you," grinned Artena, not a hint of sarcasm her speech-- unusual, as her choice of words usually accompanied such sarcasm. She turned to look at Guile. "And you, sir?"

Guile smiled slightly, adjusted his mask, and said, "I'm a magician, Miss Artena,"

"Really?" Artena said, sounding genuinely awed. "Do you do parties?"

Guile's jaw dropped. His mouth closed and opened several times before he managed to get out, "I'm not that kind of magician."

"Oh..." said Artena disappointedly, luminous gold eyes looking up into Guile's. There was something quite... odd about them, he noticed. Something... behind them, almost. It was a distinctly... hypnotic sensation.

As Guile realized that, he involuntarily stiffened slightly, though barely perceptibly. As he mumbled an apology for not being 'that kind of magician', he exerted a tiny wisp of power and did a cursory scan of the room in general and Artena in particular. It only took a few seconds to do, since he couldn't really do anything thorough at this time, but he found what he was looking for anyway.

Artena looked over up at the clock on the wall. "Oh, dear..." she said. "It's so late, and I never even realized it..." She blushed slightly. "I hate to be such a bother, but could one of you tell me how to get to the inn from here?"

"You'd have passed it on the way into town," Norris said. "I should be going around now, and I'll be going by there on my way... I'd be happy to walk you there, if you'd like."

"That would be wonderful!" exclaimed Artena. "Thank you _so_ much!" Her expression was bright and happy and she was practically bubbling over as she stood up.

Norris smiled pleasantly and nodded to Karsh and Guile as he walked over to get his umbrella. "So I'll be seeing you two tomorrow, then,"

"Goodnight, Norris. It was nice meeting you, Artena."

"'Night, Norris. See you around, Artena."

They both left, Guile's eyes following Artena. As the door closed behind the two, he said, "That is a _terribly_ strange girl."

Karsh's eyes trailed over to the door then back to Guile. "She seems nice enough,"

"I didn't say she wasn't. Just that she's terribly strange," Guile thoughtfully drummed his fingers against the closest table. "She has a compulsion on her."

Karsh blinked. "I don't get how you mean that."

"A compulsion," Guile repeated, still drumming his fingers against the table, "is a type of spell. It... induces a suggestion on its target. If you cast one onto a 'thing' of some sort, it'll usually affect any people around it. You could put one on a door, for example, and it could make anyone who tries to go into that room think there's nothing worth seeing on the other side of the door.

"Now, the type of compulsion usually cast on a _person_ is a bit different... The way those usually work is that you cast it directly on your target, and it only affects them. That is, I could put one on you that would give you an overwhelming desire-- a compulsion, as it were, to hop around on one foot every time you see water. They can get more complex, of course, but that's the general idea."

"Oh," Karsh said. "So, what's this one she's got?"

Guile smiled slightly. "That's the interesting part-- at least, I think it's interesting. What she's got is one that affects the people around her."

Karsh nodded. "Yeah, it's just you. So what's it do, anyway?"

"It makes people like her."

"What?"

Guile shrugged. "I don't know why it's there, particularly on a relatively amiable girl. It just is. I don't think she knows about it, though."

"That... is weird," Karsh said. "But what're you gonna do about it?"

"I think I'm going to keep an eye on Artena," Guile replied thoughtfully. "I could dispel the compulsion, of course, but I'd rather not do that until I see exactly why it's there."

"Makes sense, I guess," said Karsh.

"Oh, and one last thing before I go..."

"Yeah? What is it?"

Guile walked over to the umbrella stands and picked up his. "We've known each other for around six months, give or take, right?"

"And?"

"And I've been thinking about something that was said, about not remembering..." Guile opened the door and stuck his umbrella out, opening it. "Karsh, did we know each other for roughly six months half an hour ago?"

He left.

~~~~~

1:2 Chapter 2 - Opening Moves

The rain had cleared up-- it usually did for a while in the afternoons. It wasn't as good as most people could hope for, but no rain some of the time was better than rain all of the time.

But it was different today somehow. Today's weather didn't seem so much like an absence of rain as much as a return of the sun.

Maybe Guile was reading too much into things, but this general change in the 'feel' of things coming right after the appearance of that too-strange Artena seemed... odd. He was probably just thinking too much, though. And besides, the lack of rain at this time of day was common. And even if it didn't rain tonight, that didn't necessarily mean anything.

Still... No. It was a ridiculous notion, and he had no actual evidence as to its truth.

Guile stifled a yawn. 'Keeping an eye on' Artena had been proving mightily boring. It seemed the self-professed tourist was acting a lot like... a tourist. Wandering around wide-eyed, getting gouged by the local merchants, that sort of thing.

Besides the compulsion on her, there was absolutely nothing to differentiate her from your average young tourist, which made Guile feel vaguely affronted. Here he was, taking time out of his... admittedly not very busy schedule to follow this girl, and for what? To find out that Artena Tiempo of Choras wasn't willing to pay exorbitant prices for pottery? The least she could do to break the tedium was to smuggle something or do some other such... interesting thing.

He considered leaving to go anything else, but if he tried that, Artena'd likely promptly start doing something interesting. But if he stayed around, she'd never do anything.

Guile settled on leaving for an hour or so, then finding Artena again and maybe try talking to her, rather than stalking her.

He wandered off, leaving Artena to carry on with her touristy shopping.

He was near the path down to the shrines when he saw a white-haired young woman on the stairs being accosted by a trio of what appeared to be generic thugs.

Guile wasn't quite sure if intervention would be necessary, so he hung back, watching and waiting.

"Goddammit!" the girl shrilled, trying to pull away. "You're not getting my fucking purse, and that's that! D'y'have any idea who you're dealing with? I'm Estrella Martine, goddammit!"

"So?" said one of her assailants. "We're not tryin' to marry you or nothing,"

"That's evident..." said Estrella sourly. "But, then, since you refuse to be reasonable..." She raised her hands, a strange purple light emanating from them -- or from her gloves, rather. There was an odd purple webbing-pattern on them that matched the pattern on her bodysuit. Except on her gloves, the outermost rays of the webbing turned to pads at the tips of her fingers. It was from here that the light seemed to come.

If 'light' was the best word. Light isn't usually very good at knocking people down a flight of stairs.

Estrella looked back at the remaining two would-be robbers, smiling nastily. "Who's next? I've got things to do, you know, and getting it through you fuckheads' heads that you can't go trying to rob me's only slowing me down." The purple light coming from her fingertips flared incandescent.

Her assailants fled.

Guile must have looked away for a second or two, because when he looked back at the stairs, Estrella was gone as well.

He was about to leave when he noticed a small, folded slip of paper near his foot. He bent to pick it up and unfloded it. The note simply read:

"Artena will need you."

There was something naggingly familliar about the handwriting on the note, but Guile couldn't quite put his finger on it.

And the sign on the bottom of the paper was just odd. It was something like a star, twined around with ribbons, but the ribbons split and divided, twisting around each other.

The deliberate intricacy of the note suggested that it wasn't some idle thing left to drop. Furthermore, reading it again, he got a distinct, deep feeling that, yes, the note was directed at him.

Guile got the distinct impression that he was being muscled into something.

What made him nervous was that he hadn't a clue as to what.

*****

Guile stared into his glass as he related the afternoon's events to Karsh(just Karsh, Norris having had something to take care of before he could put in an appearance), noting he was dangerously close to seeing the bottom of the thing.

Karsh sighed and shook his head. "You know what gets me about this isn't that you _did_ do it-- there're reasons, after all, but that you had _time_ to do it. Get a job, whydoncha?"

"I pay my rent," said Guile, a bit defensively. "Which is more than you can say-- didn't you move back in with your parents? And aren't you Dragoons supposed to get free room and board, anyway?"

"Shut up," muttered Karsh.

The door opened then, and Norris walked in-- bone dry and without an umbrella. "'Evening," he said, then paused. "Did I leave my book in here last night?"

Guile shook his head. "I didn't see it."

Karsh shrugged. "I wasn't looking."

"Thanks," said Norris dryly, walking across the room to the counter. Asking for the lost and found as he ordered his tea, he almost delicately lifted his book from the pile of old socks, keychains, and wallets.

Taking that, his cup, teabag, and hot water over to a table, he sat down. Looking reproachfully at the book, he sniffed at it and said sourly, "Now it smells like socks."

"Your own damn fault for leaving it here," Karsh noted.

"I suppose you're right."

The three spent the next few minutes more or less absorbed in their own drinks(with Guile going for a refill early on) until the door to the bar flew open and something very much like a sobbing streak of darkness dashed in and launched itself at the person nearest to the door-- Karsh.

Karsh looked very much like someone had just tossed him a live snake as he looked down at the now-stationary streak(though you couldn't really call it a streak anymore). He couldn't see the front of this sobbing girl who had launched herself at him, but the dress and jet-black braids were fairly familliar... "Artena, right? I'm sure whatever's making you cry and all was just horrible, but would you get off of me?"

Artena sobbed a reply, then moved over to a table. "I... it's horrible!" she half-wailed. "I went out for a walk... and I left my purse in my room, and, and, and when I came back..." she wiped her nose on her sleeve, still crying openly. "And when I got back, someone'd... broken into my room, and now I don't have any money or any boat ticket and now I can't pay for my room I can't get home and... it's just AWFUL!" Her sobs made some of what she said unclear, but her general meaning still came through.

Guile, Karsh, and Norris all looked at each other for a scant half-second before Norris said, "Yes, that... is terrible."

"Yeah, that really sucks," said Karsh.

"I know," sobbed Artena. "But what am I going to _do_?"

"Wellll..." Norris said slowly, as if he was thinking. "It's against regulation, but..." he paused. "The Porre army is all going home next week. I could probably manage to arrange for you to hitch a ride, to Porre, at least."

Artena brightened signifigantly, though her eyes still glistened wet with her tears. "Really?" she said. "Could you? That would be so wonderful-- I don't know how to thank you!"

Norris blushed ever so slightly. "Really, it's nothing, Miss Artena... and I don't even know if I can get away with it yet..."

Artena smiled brightly. "I'm sure you can do it," she said. "But..." worry returned to her voice. "Where am I going to stay until then? All my money..." Her tears returned, falling softly down her cheeks, her lower lip trembling.

"I'd be more'n happy to let you stay with me," Karsh said, "but I just moved back in with my parents for a while, and if I brought a girl home with me, they'd prolly get the wrong idea and make me marry you, or something."

"Oh," said Artena.

They were looking at him, Guile knew. And he would agree to the notion, he knew. He just wished he knew if he'd agree to it because it was just the right thing to do, because he genuinely liked Artena, or because her compulsion was leading him to it. Finally, he said, "If you don't mind spending the next week and a half sleeping on a couch, I should be able to get away with putting you up for that space of time." He paused, a dreamy look arising in his eyes. "If my landlady caught me, she'd evict me..." he took on a faraway tone. "What a game this'll be..."

Both Norris and Karsh stared. Finally, Norris said, "You're not satisfied doing anything unless your life has a chance to be ruined if you do it, aren't you?"

"No point in playing if you don't stand to lose anything," Guile said blandly, drinking in the stares. Finally, he cracked a smile. "Please, I'm not that bad, I don't think," he said. "I'm joking, I'm joking," he paused thoughtfully then. "Well, mostly joking," he added.

"But you mean it?" Artena said brightly. "You'll let me stay with you?"

"I don't see any reason why I shouldn't," Guile said. "Oh, and unless you really don't want me to, I think I should go with you, to Porre at the very least. Someone who attracts trouble as much as you seem to really shouldn't be travelling alone." Guile was trying very hard to keep from turning chalk-white. He _had_ _not_ meant to say _anything_ after the word 'shouldn't'! He didn't _feel_ like he was being muscled into something anymore, he _knew_ it! He smiled weakly, ignoring the hanging jaws.

Artena's jaw, however, had not dropped. Rather, her eyes were wide and bright. "You mean it?" she said. "You really, really mean it? That would be so wonderful... I hate travelling alone..."

Trapped, Guile could only go with it. "It's... no trouble at all," he said weakly. "As Karsh was nice enough to point out earlier, I don't really have much else to do..."

He knew it. Some higher power had sent its hired muscle to knock on his front door, and there they were, announcing themselves as, "Hired Goons." Though he doubted it was just his door that was getting knocked on. He really didn't think that Norris had meant to make that offer. He was generally very nice, yes, but not _that_ nice.

Norris sighed. "Fine," he said. "You can come, too. It won't be a problem, really. Anyone else? Karsh? Would you suddenly like to decide you could do with a trip to Porre and/or Choras?"

Karsh seemed to consider that for a moment or two. Finally, he shrugged and said, "Why not?"

Norris stared, eyes on the verge of popping out of his head.

Karsh shrugged again. "I could do with a vacation, 'n I don't have all that much money to spare. I told you about my pay cut, right? And besides, you _never_ say anything unless you mean it."

Norris waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it, then... I should still be able to manage it. I can't really promise anything to anybody, though."

Still smiling, very happily, Artena said, "I'm sure you'll be able to do it."

Guile was, too, though likely for a different reason than Artena. As far as he could tell, Artena's surety arose from an implicit trust in Norris-- in everyone and everything, even, if he read her right.

Guile's confidence that Norris would be able to pull this off lay more in that whatever was tying him... everyone, even, into a neat little package knew _exactly_ what it was doing.

Of course, he couldn't be _sure_ of it. Surety demanded proof, and he had none of that.

Though his circumstantial evidence was enough that he was willing to not break his brain looking for proof-- for now, at any rate.

Artena was not the source, he was quite willing to bet. Artena... was just _too_ sincere in 'feel'. There wasn't the slightest hint of duplicity to her(or was that just her compulsion affecting him?).

But that wasn't it, he didn't think. Artena was... pure, that was it. He didn't mean it in the sense that it was often used in relation to a member of the female persuasion, obviously. There was no way he could be making a judgment like _that_ about her. Rather, he meant the word 'pure' in its strictest sense... untainted, unstained.

You couldn't ask him _how_ he knew, but he _knew_ that about Artena.

No, Artena was definitely not behind this oddity. If anything, she was affected by it the most.

And then there was that note he'd found earlier, in that hauntingly familliar handwriting...

Guile was a seeker of enigma, and he'd certainly found one here. The problem was that this was not the form of enigma he sought. He wanted the ones that simply defied solving, the ones that could not be unravelled by any means a human was capable of. This... was more of a 'mystery', not even really worth of the title of 'enigma'. It begged to be solved.

All in all, this looked to prove quite interesting, even if he didn't like being manipulated as much as he knew he was. His only consolation on the manipulation regard was that he wasn't alone.

But why couldn't he place that handwriting on the note?


End file.
